When Henry Ford introduced the assembly line, most of the attention was on his cars. But the real revolution was the assembly line itself, which slashed costs and boosted output across countless industries. Investors who owned a broad swath of American industry — not just Ford — captured that productivity surge in their portfolios.
The same pattern played out with the standardized shipping container. As Marc Levinson recounts in The Box, this simple metal box transformed global trade. It cut shipping times and costs so dramatically that it reshaped entire supply chains, made global manufacturing viable, and shifted the balance of economic power. The biggest winners weren’t necessarily the companies that made the containers; they were the retailers, manufacturers, and transport firms that adopted the system to work more efficiently.
Artificial intelligence today is shaping up the same way. Yes, chipmakers and software developers have grabbed the headlines, but the deeper, long-lasting value will accrue to the companies that use AI to work smarter:
- Banks and insurers automating fraud detection and underwriting to cut costs.
- Hospitals and clinics using AI to flag anomalies on imaging scans and reduce errors.
- Logistics firms optimizing routes to save fuel and labor.
- Manufacturers predicting equipment failures to reduce downtime.
- Retailers fine-tuning prices and inventories in real time.
Each of these improvements starts as a line item in an income statement — lower expenses, faster throughput, higher margins — and ends up as stronger earnings and healthier balance sheets. Over time, that’s what drives stock prices.
This is why we build diversified portfolios rather than betting everything on one “next big thing.” Every technology wave has its poster children and its casualties. Pets.com was a dot-com darling that flamed out long before people spent billions online on their pets. Meanwhile, the quiet adopters of the internet went on to compound value for decades.
By owning a broad mix of high-quality companies, you don’t have to predict which single AI name will dominate or disappear. You’re already positioned to benefit as innovation spreads through the economy — and to cushion the inevitable hype cycles along the way.
AI isn’t a one-stock story, and it isn’t over. Like the assembly line and the shipping container, it’s an economy-wide shift still in its early stages. Staying diversified and disciplined gives you the best chance to capture that transformation without risking your retirement on speculation.
